‘Edmonton’s worst golfer’ breaks 100

Iain MacLean was named Edmonton’s Worst Golfer in a Journal contest in 2011.

Photograph by: Rick MacWilliam

EDMONTON - The last time we left Iain MacLean — a.k.a. Edmonton’s worst golfer — he was still trying to break 100, still losing 10 or more balls a round, still making crater-sized divots and still slicing his driver so far to the right it was in a different area code.

Chosen as Edmonton’s worst golfer in a Journal contest last year — MacLean won a summer’s worth of lessons from Windermere’s Cam Martens, a recent recipient as the Alberta PGA’s teacher of the year.

However, MacLean’s two jobs prevented him from being able to take enough lessons to move forward enough to satisfy Martens. So we’ve given MacLean another chance with more lessons.

“There has already been substantial improvement,” said Martens. “His best score before taking any lessons with me was 128 and he’s already broken 100 three times this year.

“Iain still hits bad shots like anybody. However, his better shots are, for sure, better. But I still think there is a lot more potential. He hits enough good shots that he should be consistently able to not only break 100, but a game that should take him around the course under 90.”

There’s still a lot of Jekyll and Hyde in MacLean’s game. For instance, the other day he got his first eagle — hitting a driver and then a three-wood to seven feet and making the putt. But on the very next hole disaster struck.

“It was at Legends and there was a hole-in-one contest,” said MacLean. “If you got a hole-in-one, you won a car that was parked off to the side.”

MacLean hit the car.

“I’m sure they parked the car in a spot they thought was safe, but if there is something for me to hit I’ll usually find it,” said McLean, 27.

It’s not the first thing he’s hit. He’s hit a beer cart, a gravel truck, buildings, other people and nothing but air. Last year one of his tee shots came off the toe of his club and missed hitting his wife in the head by about a foot.

But at least now, MacLean is usually hitting the fairway he’s playing instead of one two holes away. He no longer completely whiffs. He isn’t losing a dozen balls a round. And he is using more body parts than just his arms and biceps.

“There also aren’t any six-inch divots that you would roll your ankle if you stepped in one of them,” said Martens. “You could seriously injure yourself in some of those divots that he used to make.

“He’s going to miss hit it like anybody. Golf is hard.

“The best part that I’ve seen so far this year is that it appears he is not thinking so much about how to do it. He looks more athletic and more comfortable.”

MacLean is an athlete. He played centre for the Edmonton Huskies — where he won two national football championships — and for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Now the offensive line coach for the Huskies, two of MacLean’s best friends are Gord Hines and Simeon Rottier, who both play for the Edmonton Eskimos and who were both groomsmen at his wedding.

“I’ve never been bad at sports in my life. I love sports. I love being active. I love doing sporting things. And I’m uber competitive,” said MacLean, who works as the municipal clerk for the city of Wetaskiwin.

“That’s what peeves me off the most: that I’m not good at golf.”

“We started this process 14 months ago and Iain was, without a doubt, the worst golfer I have ever seen,” said Martens.

“I say that a little in jest, but the difference between Iain and other bad golfers is that Iain really worked hard at the game. A lot of people are bad golfers. But most of them don’t golf very often. Iain really tried to be good, but he wasn’t.

“Now my overall view of his swing is that it looks like a golf swing,” Martens said. “It no longer looks like a guy trying to kill a snake on the ground.

“If I had met him today for the first time I would see someone who is definitely capable of shooting under 90. It’s a swing of a guy who can play golf in four hours and not hurt so many people.

The biggest difference in MacLean’s swing involves his spine.

“Iain’s spine would move up and down while hitting a shot,” said Martens. “The bulk of what we have worked on is having him move his body in a way that allowed his spine to stay as still as possible — having a consistent spine angle — and turning his body around his spine.

“Before, there was a lot of elevation changes in his spine which would create lots of styles of miss hits. His swing was up and down. He was really tall. There was no posture control, his pelvis would stop, and — whomp — he would get the club stuck in the ground.

“If there isn’t a consistent rotation and if you don’t rotate your body, the club is just going to smash into the ground.

While MacLean started playing a little golf in high school, it’s only been in the last three years that he has played more than five rounds a year.

“Golf drives me nuts, but I do enjoy it. Or, at least, I enjoy it now.

“I can’t play football any more, but this is something that I can do with my buddies. That’s the biggest reason why I want to get better. Golf wasn’t fun. It was more of a chore. It was more fun having a few beers on the course than playing golf.

“Now I can beat the odd guy; that’s fun.”

Martens has MacLean almost exclusively hitting irons. The driver — for the most part — stays in the bag for the time being. That’s even though Ping felt sorry for him after reading about his travails last year and fitted and gave him a new driver.

“He’s a big, strong guy,” Martens said of MacLean, who stands six-foot-two and weighs 235 pounds. “He doesn’t have to hit it hard to hit it far.”

Straight, however, is another matter.

On this day at Windermere, MacLean mixed a lot of hooks, slices and topped worm-burners with several soaring shots that would bring a big smile to his face.

“Inconsistency. That’s the biggest problem,” said MacLean. “You wonder how you can hit one shot so good and then hit 10 awful ones.

“But it’s definitely getting better. I coach sports and it is nice to see improvement from my guys. I’m hoping that is what Cam can see.”

“Oh, for sure,” replied Martens. “There’s still room for improvement, but the potential is there now. It’s been quite a journey.”

That journey will continue as Martens and MacLean will work together for the rest of the summer at which time we’ll catch up with them again.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.